Bung driver



J. WHITE BUNG DRIVER Aug. 6, 1935.

Filed April 15, 1954 INVENTbR (/OSEP/l WHITE av I W ATT NEY Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED PATENT OFF'I C E miners #BUNG muvait Joseph; wh te, New York, N. Y. Application Apia! Le, 1954, serial No. 720,445

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This invention relates to appliances for tapping The primary object of the present invention beer kegs, and more particularlytothe bungdrivis to obviate this lossof product and destruction er which is conventionally'used manuallyto' adof parts, byeliminating the above described defminister a smart hammer blow' to a tapering ormation of the threaded gland and its seat, and 5 bushing that is adapted to-drive the bung from a particular object is to provide a bung driver 6 the bung-hole into the keg and simultaneously of improved form by which the necessary hamto seat the tapered bushing firmly in the bungmer-blows will be delivered with a cushioned hole. efl'ect.

Such a bushinghas a longitudinal bore .to re- The above, and other features of the invention 10 ceive telescopically the pipe used for drawing oflf are illustrated and described fully in the accom- 10 the beer, and this bore has a threaded mouth Dimying drawing and specification and are pointto receive a metal screw plug or gland that coned out in the claims. a fines a rubber gasket surrounding the-pipewithin In the drawing, i the bore and forms therewith a fluid-tight Joint Fig; 1 is a view in front elevation'of a hung when the gland is screwed into the bushing. driver or hammer in the construction of which 15 In the operation of tapping the keg-the pipe the invention has been embodied: is first inserted into the bushing: and the gland Fig. 2 is a view thereof in side elevation; screwed home, and the bushing, with its enclosed 3 is ap V ew Of the Same; pipe, is placed against the bung, after which the Fig. 4 is'a bottom plan view; a

bung driver, or hammer, which is usually of a Fig. 5 isa detail viewin plan of the cushion 20 shape somewhat resemblingadumb-belLwith an P a e, taken p y; v open-sided longitudinal bore, is slipped upon the Fig-6 is a ch ma ic view, i ra in the tiepipe, and is brought smartly down against the vice ofthe preceding figures as used in the operahead of the bushing one or more times; to .drive tion of tapp rp O the g 26 out the bung and seat the bushing and pipe in hole, tap-bushing, and tap-pipe being alsoshown; the bung-hole. f l JIn a=now-preferred-.form' of the invention se- The gland is then unscrewed slightly torelax lected for illustration and description, the part the sealing pressure on the pipe, so that the rlatter designated generally by the reference character can be thrust down into the fiuid'contentsof the H is a hung driver or hammerdevice of the con so keg, to a region near thE'DDDOSitC wall thereof; ventional sort used in tapping beer kegs, com- 30 The gland is then screwed home tightly qto'comprising an elongated metal member having someplete the seal between pipe and bushing. what the shape of a dumb-bell with "a serrated The various steps in this operation must, obhand-grip portion 12, and having a relatively viously, be performed quickly, or the gaseous 0011-; large foot-portion J3 adapted to serve as the 86: tent of the beer, and'often theibeer itself, will hammenlthe body ofthe device having an'open blow through the bushing past the relaxed gland, slot I 4 running fromend to end, and extending" and escape, wasting thebeer, or at least lowering back to :the axial line of the device which serves its desirable drawing pressure and leaving it he asv a longitudinal bore IE to receive thetap-pipe and unpalatable. 1 lfipwhich is of'the form usually employedifor in- 40 The bushing-and gland are usually made of sertion in a beerlreg to'draw ofl the contents 40 brass, and in practice, it is found frequently that thereof. the hammer-blows administered by the heavy In pursuance of the invention, I have provided metal bung driver against the metal head of the the hammer with a novel cushioning part II, bushing, around the threaded seat of the gland, which is formed of material having a suitable tend to impact the metal of the bushing and deresilient characteristic, as for example a rubber 45 form the threads of the gland seat. This efl'ect compound vulcanized to a degree of hardness is aggravated when, as often occurs, an unskilled somewhat greater than that of the rubber heel or careless operative permits the metal gland to of a shoe, which it resembles in general shape, project somewhat above the head of the bushing, having, however, a slot corresponding in shape so that the metal base of the bung driver hamto the slot I 4 and communicating central bore 50 mers directly upon the relatively small gland, l5 of the body of the hammer device. upsetting the brass and making it almost impos- As an illustrative and now-preferred form of sible to screw it into place at times; and in any means for attaching the cushion I! to the hamevent so delaying the operation as to cause the mer-head I3, I have shown a metal plate I8 above described loss of gas and fluid. upon which the rubber cushion is vulcanized be- 55 fore attachment to the hammer-head, the plate having lugs IS with holes 20 to receive bolts 2| passing through similar lugs 22 on the hammer head.

A firmer union between the cushion l1 and its supporting plate I8 may be secured by stamping up projections 23 in the plate, at spaced intervals, and vulcanizing the rubber thereon. I prefer also to provide an abutment for the forward margin of the cushion by bending up the plate as shown at 24. This serves the double purpose of holding the cushion against lateral spreading at its two weakest regions and oi protecting its forward edges against destructive contacts when the bung driver is being slipped.

upon the pipe I6.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated the conventional mode of using such a bung driver'in combination with the usual tap-pipe l6 and tap-bushing 25,.

is to be driven into the keg and replaced bythe tap-bushing25, which is shown asof conventional form, having a tapered exterior, and a longitudinal bore 28 to receive the. tap-pipe Hi.

In a threaded enlargement 29 of this bore, near its mouth, is fitted a screw-gland 30 of annular form, surrounding the pipe l6, and confining a gasket 3! of elastic material whichaffords a fluid-tight seal between the pipe l6--and bushing 25 when the gland 3B is screwed home.

Fig. 6 shows the several members clearly in their relative positions readyv to tap the keg. To bring the parts to this position, the pipe It) has been thrust. into thebushing 25, first .unscrewing the gland 3B somewhat to relax the gasket 3|, and then the gland has been screwed home firmly into the position illustrated; and the bushing 25, with its pipe [6, thus assembled, has been placed against the bung 2?, and the bung driver or hammer II is slipped sidewise on the pipe l6, occupying the raised, or full line position shown in Fig. 6..

When the hammer H is now brought down smartly one or more times against the head 33 of the bushing 25 in the knownmanner, it delivers a blow which is cushioned by the cushion l1 sufiiciently to avoid the harsh swaging action which has heretofore resulted from the impact of a metal hammer upon a brass bushing and gland; but the blow is adequate togive the bush-i ing the jolt necessary to start the bung 21', drive the latter into the keg, and seat the bushing 25' firmly in the bung-hole 26. 1 v

In practice, it has been found that the operative finds that he can strike a harder blowv with this improved .cushioned hammer, in the con-- fidence that such a blow will not deform .the.

threaded gland seat, and so the tapping opera tion can be effected quickly, with no loss of beer, or of pressure, and consequently with full maintenance of the gas content at a desirable drawing pressure, and a complete elimination of this prevalent cause of flatness in the beer.

The life of the gland, and therefore of the bushing, is increased by this preservation of the threaded gland-joint, and the expense of maintenance is thus cut down to normal wear and tears It. is always. possible, with clean, normal threads,to unscrew the'gland easily and screw it home completely, so that it does not project beyond the head 33 of the bushing, and this aids to keep the gland out of the Way of the hammer, obviating a prolific source of deforming contacts.

The cushion likewise protects the hammer head against deformation, increasing its life, and can itselfibe replaced quickly when worn out, at

an expense which is small relatively to the savings effected, by its use, including economy of time in thetapping operation; saving of'beer and its maintenance in palatable condition under adequate' drawing pressure; and reduction of the maintenancecosts and replacements of the bushing and hammer parts.

I claim: 1

. l. A bung-driver or hammer device of the type comprising an elongated body affording a hand-grip, and having one end enlarged to form a'hammer-head, said body and head being formed withan axial bore, and with a co-extensive open slot from end to ,end to permit emplacement of said hammer laterally upon a pipe; said device havingxa: resilient cushion supported by a metal plate secured removably to the hammer-head and having a slot registering with that of the slot and 'bore of saidhandle body and further characterized by having said cushion-supporting plate provided with spaced central projections embedded-in the body of the cushion, and with marginal abutment projections adjacent to the slotted end of said cushion- 2. Abung-driver or hammer device of the type comprising an elongated body affording a handgrip, and having one end enlarged toform a hammer-head, said body and head being formed with an'axial bore, and with a co-extensive open slot from end to end to permit emplacement of said hammer laterally upon a pipe; said device having a resilient cushion supported by a metal plate securedremovably to the hammer head andhaving a slot registering with that of the slot and bore of said handle body and'iurthercharacterized by having said cushion formed of vulcanized rubber, and said-supporting plate provided with spaced -.centralprojections vulcanized into the body of'the cushion, and with marginal abutment projections adjacent to'the slotted end of said cushion.

- JOSEPH WHITE. 

